Jillian McClanahan, March – Every team has their own games and rituals that they play and do. It’s a fun way to get the jitters out and keep the younger archers interested. But there are two games that my team plays that I highly recommend playing to improve your scoring.
Aiming to hit the center is almost always our main goal as archers, but when you’re forced to evaluate your aiming point and think about how you have to change and adjust to hit different parts of the target you’re not usually aiming for, it really lets you understand how you aim.
The first game I recommend is “four corners.” In “four corners” archers get four arrows and, pretty self-explanatory: you try to hit all four corners of the target. Each team can have own house rules on what counts as a corner, but we usually say if it’s behind the words on the corner then it counts. This game is the most difficult for me, and I almost always miss the target completely but I still learn something even when I don’t hit the target.
The second game (and my personal favorite) is “Rainbow.” in “Rainbow” archers get their usual five arrows and try to hit one arrow in the yellow, (9 or 10) one arrow in the red, (7 or 8) one arrow in the blue, (5 or 6) one arrow in the black, (3 or 4) and then one arrow in the white, (1 or 2.) This game makes you think about your usual aiming spot and how it changes on other parts of the target.
While these games improve your center-shot, I’ve noticed it improves my 3D shooting tremendously. Shooting 3D is tricky because you have to adjust your aim a little bit each time since it gradually increases to 15 yards instead of it only being 10 and then 15 yards. “Rainbow” shooting and “Four corners” teaches you how to adjust your aim just enough to hit your desired spot which helps when you shoot 3D.
These games are also great to play at your own range if you have one in your backyard. As always, make sure you have a tarp set up behind your target to catch your arrows when you miss.
There are so many fun and beneficial archery games to play “Rainbow” and “Four corners” are two that I’ve found help me improve the most. I hope these games can help you improve too!
